Senior High School Teachers’ Awareness and Acceptability of

Baybayin as the National Writing System

of the Philippines.

Aragona, Patricia Mae

Dela Cruz, Ashley C.

Estrada, Mark Angelo S.

Gregorio, Joseph F.

Raoet, Irish Ivan John V.

1
 ABSTRACT

Back in the Pre-Hispanic era we had this own writing system called baybayin. Baybayin

means “to spell” or “baybay”, it is made up of symbols and it is read with consonant and vowel

together. Baybayin has been one of the most prominent issue in our country because the House

Bill 1022 or the “National Writing System Act” that enables “Baybayin” to be the national

writing system of the Philippines was approved by the House Committee on Education and

Culture. On the other hand, before passing it into law, the congress must first hear the

perception of the teachers’ awareness and acceptability of baybayin as the national

writing of the Philippines. The researchers of the study surveyed eighty senior high

school teachers from four schools in Lingayen, Pangasinan. The findings of the study

regarding awareness was seventy (70) out of eighty (80) or eighty-seven percent 87%

said that they heard of baybayin. Meanwhile, in measuring their skill on baybayin all of

the Filipino/Social studies teachers known how to read, write, teach baybayin but there

were few who can read and write but not teach it. Lastly, in the questions regarding

acceptability, the main findings among the five questions was neutral. Nevertheless, the

result was just the tip of an ice burg and we suggest that for future studies regarding

baybayin, you must seek for the public’s perception on awareness and acceptability of

baybayin to be the national writing system of the Philippines.

Keywords: baybayin, acceptability and awareness, House Bill 1022.

2
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITILE PAGE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
DEDICATION
ABSTRACT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Statement of the Problem and Objectives
Significance of the Study
Scope and Delimitation
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
History
System of Writing
Baybayin used as a Tagalog Catechism
CHAPTER 3: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY
Research Design
Population and Sample
Data Gathering Instrument
Data Gathering Procedure
CHAPTER 5: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
Section1. Personal Information
Section2. Awareness
Section3. Acceptability
CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
REFERENCE LIST

3
`
LIST OF FIGURES
Page
FIGURE 1: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
FIGURE 1.0:
FIGURE 1.1:
FIGURE 1.2:
FIGURE 2.0
FIGURE 2.1:
FIGURE 2.2
FIGURE 2.3
FIGURE 2.4
FIGURE 2.5
FIGURE 2.6
FIGURE 3.0
FIGURE 3.1
FIGURE 3.2
FIGURE 3.3
FIGURE 3.4

4
CHAPTER I

5
 INTRODUCTION

Before the Spanish colonizers came into the Philippines, a system of writing has

already emerged. As defined by Morrow (2010), baybayin is a writing system native to

the Philippines, the word baybay means “to spell” in Tagalog, which was the language

most frequently written with the baybayin script. Apart from Tagalog, baybayin (with

some necessary changes) was used to write Ilocano (Iloko), Kapampangan, Pangasinan,

Bisaya, and Bikol. The system of writing baybayin was one of twelve or more indigenous

alphabets from such Southeast Asian islands as Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi, which are

ultimately derived from ancient India and share the Sanskrit characteristic that any

consonant is pronounced with the vowel a following it, diacritical marks being added to

express other vowels (Scott,1984). Baybayin is not just a baybayin itself, not just a

writing system for tagalogs but if it is also used by other places in the Philippines with

their own version of baybayin, namely they were Kapangpangan, Bisaya, Pangasinan,

and Bicol. It is also found out that baybayin is one of the 12 ancient script from Southeast

Asia, which are originally coming from India. It is also similar to the Script of India that

is pronounced with the consonant followed by the vowel, that is why baybayin is called

baybayin for it is pronounced with syllable. On the one hand, Woods argues that it is the

most used system of writing in the Philippines but for the Spanish, baybayin was a futile

design where in fact only minorities use baybayin. With this being said some people

believed that baybayin has nothing to do in the Spanish era, that is why baybayin became

obsolete after the Spanish came into the Philippines.

6
 In the study of Woods (2012), baybayin (not alibata) was the system of writing

prevalent at the time of the Spanish intrusion, certain misconceptions have remained

about baybayin. Some have insisted it was of a "useless design" being more appropriately

thought of as a toy. Others have suggested that only a few within Tagalog society could

in fact use this technology. Though unspoken, there is also the belief that baybayin had

no place in the Spanish Philippines. Above all is the assumption that baybayin

"disappeared" shortly after the Spaniards arrived.

“Baybayin is an abugida that means, a writing system whose segments are based

on symbols for consonants, with vowel notation a secondary part of the consonant-vowel

unit. Baybayin thus resembles other Indic scripts such as Devanagari (used for Hindi),

Tamil, and Javanese (all of which are derived from the Brahmi script of ancient India),”

(Morrow, 2010). It is believed that baybayin is similar with other Indic Scripts,and

besides it is used as consonant vowel when pronounced. The babybayin has fourteen

consonant together with "a"sound when there is no mark, but to denote an "e" or "I"

sound, a dot is placed above the symbol, on the other side when it is to be spoken as "o"

or "u" is not below the symbol is placed and lastly to be speak a consonant alone,simply a

small cross is placed below. Like reading English alphabet baybayin is read from left to

right. In the present time the font of baybayin is based on the book Doctrina Christiana,it

is modelled that allows easy representation of final consonant that are not followed by a

vowel. All in all, some features of baybayin is hard to be rebuilded because it is based on

the writings of Spanish missionaries.

“Baybayin was used mainly for the purpose of singing songs, personal

communication and courtship rituals,” (Kawahara, 2015). It was used by early people

7
occasionally for public purposes such as writing the history and legends of the tribe or the

community. However, Casal (1998), argues that baybayin might have been originally

used to record commercial transactions, because the indigenous people lived near the

coast or along rivers, and that there had been a certain amount of trade activities, in the

form of barter trading. According to his analysis, baybayin was first used for these

transactions and later came to be used to record folklore, poetry and songs.

Because of lack of historical literature, there is not enough detailed information

about the lifestyle of the indigenous people at the time when the Spaniards arrived.

However, some archeological data denote that people at the time depended on primitive

fishing and farming, and lived in small communities called barangays which were located

near the seaside or riverside. “From the fifteenth century, the influence of Islam from the

Indonesia islands became stronger,” (Zaide, 1994). At the time when the Spaniards

arrived, Mindanao Island and the Sulu Islands of the southern Philippines were already

under the influence of Islamic culture. Most languages of the Philippines belong to the

Austronesian language family. In the Philippines, hundreds of languages were spoken at

that time and this multilingual situation continues even today. In terms of phonological

features of the Philippine languages, their sounds commonly had three vowels (a, e/i, o/u)

and 14 consonants (b, d, g, h, k, l, m, n, ng, p, s, t, w, y). The root words were usually

made up of two syllables. As for word formation, words were compounded by a

repetition of the same sounds and by inserting an infix (an affix appearing in the stem).

These are also common characteristics of modern Philippine languages. Tagalog

borrowed more than 340 loan-words from Indian Sanskrit through traders and migrants

from Indonesian Islands and other islands. The Chinese languages also had an influence,

8
and currently 1,500 or more words are of Chinese origin (Zaide, 1994). Back in pre-

Hispanic era, indigenous people are lacking of historical literature and their lifestyle was

not recorded. But according to some archaeological data, people during that time

depended on simple fishing and farming. They also lined is small communities called

barangay and it is because people before are dependent for their lining, they depend on

the nature where they have resources to consume. Moreover, when the Spaniards came,

the southern part of the Philippines which is the Mindanao is under the Islamic culture

that results for the Mindanao people to become part of Islam. Thereafter, most of the

language across the country emerged from Austronesian language family. The

Philippines has a lot of languages more than a hundred were spoken and these languages

still continues today. People are also multilingual because when they go to another

province, they learn and adapt new languages. As said a while ago the ancient writing

system has (3) three vowels and (14) fourteen consonants, it is also similar on the

phonological features, wherein it is spoken syllabary.

“In the 18th century, eight dictionaries were written, two of which were reprints

and eleven more are supposed to be lost; four new grammars and ten reprints are still

extant while ten grammars are lost. In the 19th century sixty-seven vocabularies, fifteen

of which were reprints were written and seven are lost. Forty-four new grammars were

written, twenty reprinted and only six lost (Suerio, 2003).” Despite their importance,

many vocabularies and grammars remain unpublished or survive in a handful of copies

generally found only in specialized research libraries or in private collections –

sometimes not even catalogued properly.

9
 After the introduction of Latin characters by the Spanish, the use of baybayin

gradually faded out. It came to be used only for decorative or magical purposes.

According to Scott (1984), a piece of bamboo whose surface was engraved with written

blessing or songs in baybayin was put at the entrance of residences. Scott (1984), also

said that wills were usually written in Latin characters but signed in baybayin until the

middle of the seventeenth century. This custom gradually became obsolete, and the last

case was recorded in 1792 in Mindoro Island. Thereafter its use was not reported at all.

The use of baybayin in the early times was rich but that was then when the Spanish didn’t

arrived yet, but when they came the use of baybayin eventually no longer being used. It is

used, but not for communication and writing but only for decorative purpose only it is

quiet upsetting part for the Filipinos because it is a part of their culture but easily taken

away by the Spanish. After the baybayin was not reported at all and it became part of the

memory of the Filipinos.

Earlier today, due to the determination of government to push baybayin as the

national writing system, “The House Committee on Education and Culture has approved

House Bill 1022, or the proposed “National Writing System Act," that enables Baybayin

to be the Philippines’ national writing system, generate a greater awareness on its plight

and develop wider appreciation for its importance and beauty,” (Morallo, 2018).

If the bill was passed into law, the limitation will seek to cover all manufacturers

of local food products to put translation of baybayin in their product. The proposed law

will also mandate local government units to included baybayin signs for street names,

public facilities, public buildings and other necessary signage for public offices like

hospitals, fire and police stations, community centers and government halls. Newspapers

10
and other print publications will also be required to provide a baybayin translation of

their names, simply the baybayin will be put on to infrastructures and shall be recognized

by the Filipino people and according to the bill all Government agencies will also be

directed to disseminate knowledge and information about baybayin by distributing

reading materials on all levels of education and in government and private agencies and

offices. Bataoil said that these materials would raise awareness on baybayin as the

national writing system. He added that appropriate training should be conducted for the

proper handling of these documents. The best way for it to be learned is to provide people

materials and educate people on the proper writing and reading texts that are written in

baybayin. “The NCCA together with DepEd, the Department of Interior and Local

Government and the Commission on Higher Education will formulate the implementing

rules and regulations of the bill,” (Morallo, 2018). With this being said through action

and determination the baybayin will be revitalized and be implemented to preserve and

protect the remaining Filipino culture that can save the future generation to be more

proud of calling what is “ours” the bill about baybayin it is good that baybayin will be

revitalized and used again, but the question is will this be accepted by the ones who

deliver the information – the Teachers? In this study, the researchers will find but if the

teachers are aware and accepting in proposing the bill on baybayin.

The researchers of the study are expecting that the senior high school teachers are

aware and accepting when it comes to passing the bill in promoting baybayin as the

national writing system of the Philippines because it became a wide ranged talk in the

country and there are a lot of people who support baybayin for it tobe revitalized and

used again.

11
Statement of the Problem and Objectives

What are the senior high school teachers’ level of awareness and acceptability in

the bill “National Writing System Act,” that enables “Baybayin” to be the Philippines’

national writing system. In the present time, the news regarding baybayin becomes

prominent all over the country, the said bill was already passed in the House Committee,

therefore before passing it into law, congress must first hear the perception of the

teachers’ awareness and acceptability of baybayin as the national writing of the

Philippines.

1. To determine the level of awareness of senior high school teachers in Lingayen,

Pangasinan.

2. To ascertain how accepting are the senior high school teachers in the proposal to

make baybayin as the national writing system of the Philippines.

12
Scope and Delimitation

In this section of the research, the researchers will present the limitation that will

include the explanation of the coverage of geographical location, sample, and time.

The main focus of the study will be directly pointing to the level of awareness and

acceptability of baybayin as the national writing system of the Philippines of senior high

school teachers in Lingayen, Pangasinan. The research sample is composed of twenty

(20) senior high school teachers per school from Pangasinan State University- Lingayen

campus, Saint Columban’s College, Pangasinan National High School, Pangasinan

School of Arts and Trades, and Dulag National High School who were Social Science

and Filipino teachers and non- Filipino teachers --Math, English, and Science. Firstly, the

reason why it is located in schools from Lingayen, Pangasinan is because each school has

their own culture and community wherein they interact and share their knowledge

together and the fact that baybayin is taught to senior high school in the subject

Komunikasyon at Pananaliksik sa Wika at Kulturang Filipino it is therefore valid to

locate the study there. Secondly, is the convenience and the time—researchers were not

given funds to go across the country and they only have two months to finish the study,

and what can researchers do is do what is feasible and time bounded.

13
Significance of the Study

First and foremost, the result of this study will hopefully benefit the Congress,

since the House Committee passed baybayin as the national writing of the Philippines,

the data gathered will serve as a basis to reject or accept the said bill. Moreover, by

passing the bill learning baybayin will benefit the students, it will be mandated to be

taught to students across the country and with this being said the students will become an

instrument to help the culture be revived and used again. Lastly our country-- the

Philippines-- since baybayin is a pre-Hispanic writing system of native Filipinos, like

other countries they have own writing system to protect their culture. Moreover, baybayin

will now be recognized and call it our “own.”

14
 Chapter II

Review of Related Literature

History

The origin of baybayin has not been settled, but there are theories that arose.

“Francisco recognized authority in this area lists at least five possible origins, these five

origins were suggested by Geoff Wade he suggested that baybayin may in fact have had

its origins with the Cham, the people of the kingdom of Champa in southern Vietnam,”

(Wade, 1993). All these theories must be noted that they came from outside the

Philippines. Thus, a technology of writing was brought to the archipelago, probably on

the initiative of the local inhabitants. Here, a transformation took place. The process

involved in bringing about this transformation from something foreign to something local

or indigenous in Southeast Asia has been referred to as "domestication,"

"vernacularization," "indigenization" and "localization," (Wade, 1993). All these point to

"a purposeful and discriminating aptitude that wants to make sense of something foreign.

They express the capacity of Southeast Asian societies to change. H.G.Q Wales used the

phrase "local genius" to express how Southeast Asians retained indigenous culture and

ideas while using the culture of another people,” (Reynolds, 1995). More often than not,

the aspects of foreign cultures borrowed and domesticated in the region often gave

concrete expression to local ideas. As a result, if one is not careful, one will observe the

concrete expression and attach to it its original, that is, foreign, meaning, failing to

understand its Southeast Asian meaning and significance. At the very beginning,

baybayin does not have its original place where it started but since there are researchers

15
some theories appeared to locate its original place of creation. In the research of wade

there are (5) five origins where it started and he believed that the baybayin is originated

somewhere in southern Vietnam, also due to the exploration of the ancient people from

outside the country the transformation of language and writing system occurred.

Beforehand, Ancient people were naturally smart for they alone brought the development

of language and writing system to Southeast Asian countries and in order to keep it one

must be careful in strengthening its culture because if not, its people will fail on learning

the value and its importance.

Phelan (1959) wrote about Filipino responses to Spanish influences in the Philippines

in his classic work Hispanization of the Philippines: Spanish Aims and Filipino

Responses 1560-1700:

“The Filipinos were no mere passive recipients of the cultural stimulus created by the Spanish
conquest. Circumstances gave them considerable freedom in selecting their responses to
Hispanization. Their responses varied all the way from acceptance to indifference and
rejection. The capacity of Filipinos for creative social adjustment is attested in the manner in
which they adapted many Hispanic features to their own indigenous culture,” (pp.8-9).

During the colonization of the Spanish, Filipinos were not favorable on the things that

the Spanish has done to them, and the most of their responses were they do not agree or

even show interest in their actions. Moreover, since the Filipinos were naturally

hospitable they became flexible in adapting Spanish culture to their own culture without

losing any part of their original culture. “Whenever the system of writing came to the

Tagalogs and whatever the means they had an abundant supply of materials used in

writing that is bamboo and palm leaves as the writing surfaces and sharp objects as the

writing implement,” (Reynolds, 1995). Filipinos before are very productive, they write

for their culture not because it is mandated by the law, because there is no law before and

16
after all, they are doing it for their culture, for the progress of their society. And the

Tagalogs then chose the application the function for this new technology. The choice did

not involve history literature law or other areas as they were covered by the oral tradition.

Instead they used this new technology for the purpose of writing letters a new product in

the Tagalog culture. The system we know as baybayin began to be used by the Tagalogs

for the purpose they chose. For the most part pre-hispanic writings in Tagalog have not

survived to the present for at least two reasons. First the materials they were written on

bamboo and palm leaves have not survived; nor were they supposed to do so. Second, the

nature of the writings were not intended to last for extended period of times. As a result

the knowledge we have about such writings come from those who used materials that

would survive and from those who intended for such writings to survive: the Spaniards.

From Spanish accounts we learn that Tagalogs used this technology writing in baybayin

primarily for writing letters to one another. As one account notes: "They have neither

books nor histories and they do not write at length except missives and notes to one

another," (Reynolds, 1995). Only if, they used to carve on stones many traces will be

recorded and last. Many studies will be developed along the way to explain what these

manuscriptsmeans.

Partly because of limited sources, the chronology of baybayin is also difficult to

establish. In the past few decades, several early baybayin inscriptions have been

discovered. “These are generally written on stone or similar hardy materials, with a

particularly interesting example being the Butuan Ivory Seal from 1002,” (Morrow,

2015). The system of writing baybayin was commonly carved on bamboos and palm

leaves and also uses sharp objects to carve. Some have argued that the materiality of

17
bamboo inscriptions affected the evolution of letter forms, since incising straight lines

would have torn the leaves. In an even more intriguing argument, Bonifacio Comandante

claims that the development of baybayin was influenced by the use of giant clams.

Regardless of these points, some general idea of baybayin’s development can be

ascertained. The earliest document found in the Philippines is the Laguna Copperplate

Inscription from 900, which was written in a version of the Javanese bawi script, also in

the Brahmic family. “Sometime between then and 1002, baybayin was developed in the

Philippines from bawi or related Indic scripts, becoming more and more widely used

through to the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500s,” (Morrow, 2015). Luckily, some of

baybayin scripts were found on a copper plate and is really a hard object that can be seen

until now because it lasts longer than the palm leaves and bamboos.

“The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI) writing bears remarkable similarities to

the ancient kawi script of Indonesia, Analyses by experts in both ancient Philippine and

Indonesia scripts reveal a language that contained not only Sanskrit but also old Javanese

, old Malay, and old Tagalog words, It antedates baybayin, the native script in use when

the Spanish came calling in the sixteenth century, one that, with variations in alphabet

according to the region, essentially consisted of twenty letters,” (Francia, 2011). This is

similar with other origins of baybayin script, it is found that it originated somewhere in

India. The LCI script, no longer extant, lingered on in the baybayin's formative influences

such as Sanskrit and Arabic, with the advent of the Spanish, and the intervention

primarily of the friars, the Castilian alphabet replaced the native script, but those

communities in the interior that managed to steer clear of Spanish rule and the new faith

kept their old systems of writing. A form of baybayin can still be seen, for instance, in

18
the script of the Hanunoo, Mangyan of Mindoro Island, off the southwestern coast of

Luzon, a tribe that continues to inscribe on bamboo a form of its poetry known as the

ambahan, with seven-syllable lines meant primarily to be chanted (Francia, 2010). The

baybayin on the sixteenth century was used in other regions and having found that they

have their own version of it and besides it is wonderful to see scripts with a poetic

content because nowadays, it is uncountable if there were scholars who still write poems

in baybayin. All along, it will be such good thing if baybayin is used because that person

is helping the country to use its own again and help it revitalized.

The ancients wrote on the bark of trees, on leaves and bamboo tubes, using their

knives, daggers, pointed sticks or iron as pens and the colored saps of trees an ink. Only a

few samples of their writings have come down to the present, Aside from the destructive

work of the elements, the early Spanish missionaries, in their zeal to propagate the

Catholic religion, destroyed many manuscript on the ground that they were the work of

the Devil himself. Some pieces of literature, however, have been handed down orally

from generation to generation so that only a glimpse of pre-colonial literature can be had

today (Agoncillo, 1977). Due to the misconception of Spaniard colonizers, baybayin

scripts were destroyed because of the tought that these were product of bad spirit.

System of writing

The system known as baybayin was described by Scott as one of twelve or more

indigenous alphabets from such Southeast Asian islands as Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi,

which are ultimately derived from ancient India and share the Sanskrit characteristic that

19
any consonant is pronounced with the vowel a following it, diacritical marks being added

to express other vowels. It is generally considered to have consisted of three vowels,

which could serve for five, and between twelve and fourteen consonants (Woods, 2012).

These consonants included both a consonant and a vowel value, thus the system of

writing was not alphabetic but rather a syllabary, sharing the Sanskrit characteristic that

any consonant is pronounced with the vowel a following it, diacritical marks being added

to express vowels. The three distinct vocalic characters represent separate vowel each

preceded by an inherent glottal stop (') (Conklin, 1991). The consonants without

diacritical marks (called kudlit in Tagalog, the Spaniards wrote it as corlit) included the

vowel a. The consonant with a kudlit above it included either e or i. One below meant

that either o or u was included with the consonant. The letters designating vowels were

used when placed at the beginning of a word or syllable. Without diacritical marks

(called kudlit in Tagalog, the Spaniards wrote it as corlit) included the vowel a. The

consonant with a kudlit above it included either e or i. One below meant that either o or u

was included with the consonant. This could be the same in the study of Woods that the

baybayin is read with consonant and vowel. When there is kudlit above it is bespoken

that sounds ‘e’ or ‘i’, while a kudlit is placed below it sounds with ‘o’ or ‘u’. Lastly,

when there is cross placed below the symbol it means that the consonant is standing

alone.

It is also presumed that, as among the Tagalogs, bamboos and palm leaves were

utilized, "using a pen as the point of a knife or other bit of iron, with which they engraved

the letters on the other side of the bamboo." However, none of their written materials or

records survived, and it is not known records such as marriage contracts, landholding

20
agreements, and the like (Olivares, 2012). Today, there are lot of growing number of

Filipinos who are interested in baybayin. Even in the social media, photos with baybayin

captions were prevalent. The name Baybayin presently used as a general term for all the

ancient Philippine syllabic scripts; whereas the word Baybayin traditionally refers to the

ancient extinct script of the Tagalog people, with the root word “baybay” or ‘to spell’. In

addition to Olivares’ study, the present exponents of the baybayin are asking that this

ancient script be reintroduced into the classrooms, and others are exploring the ‘mystic’

qualities of the script in self-discovery as well as plant growth. Many of the Filipinos

wanted to revitalize a forgotten history wherein people in fact are willing to accept

baybayin and study its structure to preserve, promote and protect the remaining culture of

the Philippines. While others have used the baybayin as an expression to reclaim their

ancient Philippine heritage, whether they are used in tattoos or artworks and even

corporate identities. Moreover it was just a manifestation that baybayin was off to a soft

start to indeed be recognized as the national writing system of the Philippines.

Although Spanish scholars tried to preserve the Baybayin, by the 18th century the

used of the Baybayin had become extinct among many of the native peoples. This can

mainly be attributed to the people’s preference of the Latin alphabet as a means of

writing, since the Latin alphabet was best suited to writing the new sounds introduced by

the Spanish language (Olivares, 2012). Another reason that has not yet been accounted

for was the great depletion of the native population due to the introduction of new

diseases by the Spaniards, which took a heavy toll on the natives before they developed

an immunity to these new illnesses. With the shift to the Spanish dictated townships and

21
smaller populations many traditions were forgone by the people, including the use of the

baybayin.

Although extinct in use (Olivares, 2012), the Spanish scholars had preserved in

their documents lead to a renaissance of the baybayin in the 19th century. Baybayin

became fashionable in expressing the unity of the natives to their ancient culture and

heritage, as a sample is Andres Bonifacio’s use of the baybayin K (k) in the flags of the

revolutionary Katipunan group. Where in fact baybayin was put into the Philippine peso

coins and bills.

In the late 20th century to present time, the Baybayin is riding a new wave of

popularity as an expression of national identity. From the logos of the CCP (Cultural

Center of the Philippines) and NCCA (National Commission for Culture and the Arts), to

bank notes, and even Baybayin meditation workshops; there is a grown romanticism of

the script as well as earnest studies on its history and development (Olivares, 2012). This

leads to the determination of the government to bring back the baybayin alive by

promoting it as the national writing system of the Philippines.

Baybayin used as a Tagalog Catechism

According to Fernandez (2013), most of the texts were not meant for Filipinos but

some simple prayer books, rosaries and a summarized Doctrina Christiana were

published for their evangelization. Books usually travelled by hand from one missionary

to the other. They were copied and copied again and additions were made. It was very

common that missionaries corrected and added information on the margins since

missionaries had the obligation of correcting and completing former missionaries’ works.

22
“A bilingual Spanish–Tagalog catechism Doctrina Christiana by Franciscan Juan de

Plasencia (1520–1590), corrected by Dominicans (Fernández 1979), and a Doctrina

Cristiana in Chinese were published in 1593. These were the first books to be published

in the Philippines. Plasencia’s text had been approved in the Synod of Manila in 1582 and

it was the offcial text for many years,” (Bernad, 1972). It was written in Romanized

Tagalog and Spanish. On the first book published in the Philippines, which is the

Christiana Doctrina, the baybayin translation on the book was not really meant for the

Filipinos but to evangelized them as a Christian. It was revised again and again written in

both Spanish and Tagalog language, corrected as well, until published on the time 1520 –

1590 by Franciscan Juan De Plasencia. All in all, the publication and being a part of the

Christian Family.

“Missionaries at an early stage recorded everything they knew about culture and

language. Contrary to what it is commonly believed, missionaries preserved the

baybayin, the pre-Hispanic writing system, by copying it and explaining it in their books.

Augustinian Francisco López (?–1627) with the help of Pedro Bukaneg (1592–1630),

who is considered the father of Ilocano literature, translated Roberto Bellarmino’s (1542–

1621) Doctrina Christiana into Ilocano in 1621,” (Fernandez, 2013). The eagerness of

these researchers has come up to to become a reference for new studies in baybayin.

Aside from that it is rewritten from its peculiarity is that it is written in Roman characters

and baybayin. Baybayin has seventeen symbols: three vowels and fourteen consonants.

So, the texts were written both Roman characters and baybayin. Each symbol was

pronounced with vowel and Filipinos used to know – although missionaries were

unaware of – how to pronounce it with the other two vowels. This became confusing to

23
missionaries that they don’t know how to read correctly. This results that the system

seemed extremely difficult for the missionaries to read. For this reason they wrote the

sounds as they heard them in the Roman script (Fernandez, 2013). Spanish missionaries

are tough enough to learn the Filipino script just to colonize the country though it was

hard they still manage to make an alternative to gain control over us- Filipinos.

“López decided to introduce a cross named kudlit, a diacritic placed above or

below the basic symbol to indicate its pronunciation. It is to indicate if the cross was

signed above it is pronounced as the consonant and the vowel i and if the cross was

below the symbol, the syllable was pronounced with /u/. Spelling had changed and kudlit

was introduced. It was a controversial modification and not everybody liked it,”

(Fernandez, 2010) .In able for Filipinos to learn evangelical lectures, missionaries

preserved baybayin because it is important for Filipinos to understand what is written in

Roman and baybayin. Nevertheless, it was very difficult to translate from Spanish into

baybayin. Considering the usual diffiiculty in translation between two languages that

share the same script and most of the time the same etymology, imagine the problems of

translating into a language of which they were still no experts and which lacked many

necessary religious terms. Since there were no experts that time the evangelical terms was

not validated and corrected. However, as the years passed, it was much easier for them to

Romanize the languages, written as the missionaries heard them. Baybayin was explained

in vocabularies even when it was no longer useful. A monolingual Ilocano vocabulary

from the late 18th century, the Calepino ylocano, contains an explanation of the

pronunciation and shows the symbols taken from López’s writings. However, this is not

Ilocano baybayin but Tagalog because these were the fonts available in the printing.In

24
spite of copying and explaining the baybayin in vocabularies and grammars, the truth is

that Filipinos stopped using it in favour of the Roman script, which was easier to learn

and was taught in schools. It is sad to say that Filipinos gave up their right to use their

own system and use Roman script instead.

“The Spaniards brought with them a new culture, including new art forms, a new

religion, and a new technology of writing. The Tagalogs selected those aspects they

wanted and made the changes to suit their wants and needs. The Tagalogs soon

discovered that these new intruders, the Spaniards, had a system of writing different from

baybayin,” (Fernandez, 2013)., Pinpin assumed that his readers were familiar with

baybayin, both as a system of writing as well as reading. It should be noted that he did

not use the word baybayin once in his work. In the second chapter (cabana ta), Pin pin

dealt with the differences between the Tagalog writing system and that of the Spaniards.

There were two major differences: Spanish had more characters (letters and sounds not

found in Tagalog), and Spanish letters could not be used interchangeably, as was the case

with some Tagalog letters, both consonants and vowels. He pointed out to his readers that

Spanish had letters which would be unfamiliar to those who used baybayin. The Tagalogs

also discovered that the Spaniards employed this technology for a wide variety of uses:

religion, administration, record-keeping, commerce, and of course, correspondence, but

much something more extensive and elaborate than that with which the Tagalogs were

familiar. One does not find these uses among the Tagalogs, as Spanish reports of the late

sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries point out. The Boxer Codex records, "They

have neither books nor histories, and they do not write at any length except missives and

notes to one another,” (Quirino and Garcia 1958). It was in fact a reference to allowing

25
others to read one's letter from another that began my investigation into the matter of the

writing system and literacy.

Chirino (1969), on the other hand, while the Tagalogs did not use writing for the same

purposes as the Spaniards, they quickly learned and adapted. Religion was where the

transition seems to have started. The Tagalogs, although having been exposed to Islam,

were primarily animists (or anitists as Professor Teodoro A. Agoncillo preferred) with the

various anitos being a major component of the religious system. Such a system did not

require writing and had no written tradition.

The Spaniards, on the other hand, maintained "the sacred authority of a book." In

addition, the Spanish friars used writing for different aspects of their religious practice:

prayers, rituals, baptisms, funerals and weddings. They put translations of baybayin to

these texts for native Filipinos to understand and also learn their writing system.

Whenever the friars performed religious rituals, they read from a "script," from religious

writings. The friars (or doctrineros as they were known) found that the presence of a

literate population presented a unique opportunity to educate and catechize Tagalog

converts. In his dedication to his Libro de las quatro postrimerias del hombre ( 1605), the

Dominican Francisco Blancas explains that the purpose of printing was to allow the friars

to expand their work beyond the spoken word to the written word. Although they came to

the Philippines unprepared for a printing ministry, the friars published a series of books

using baybayin beginning with the Doctrina Christiana in 1593m, (Woods, 2012). The

contents of the Doctrina Christiana were typical of those printed elsewhere in the Spanish

world. What was fascinating about the 1593 version of the Doctrina, published in the

Philippines, was its format. The material was given first in Spanish, then in Tagalog

26
using the Spanish alphabet, and finally in Tagalog using baybayin. Equally fascinating is

the fact that the first three pages of this religious work contained model but when the

Tagalogs adapted Spanish alphabet, friars started not using baybayin because it is no

longer needed for they already know how to read and write using their writing system .

27
 CHAPTER III
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

a. Heard of Baybayin
b. Seen Baybayin
Awareness of Teachers

Regarding Baybayin

A. Teaching baybayin to
schools.
B. Putting baybayin
translations on product
Acceptability of Teachers names.
In Imposing Baybayin as the C. Putting baybayin scripts on
National Writing System of street signage and and
the Philippines public facilities
D. Requiring newspaper and
magazine publishers to put
baybayin translations of
their official name.
E. Distributing reading
materials to the public

Figure 1: The diagram above shows the relationship between the dependent variables

and independent variables. This study is all about the awareness and acceptability of

teachers in the bill that promotes baybayin as the national writing system of the

Philippines. On the other hand, the meaning of dependent variable in the first box was

awareness, and its independent variable was about when teachers heard of baybayin and

28
when they have seen it. Moreover, when it comes to acceptability its independent

variables were (a) when they allow it to be taught in schools; (b)food manufacturers to

inscribe baybayin on product names; (c) when LGUs are mandated to use baybayin

scripts in their signage for streets names and public facilities; (d) when newspaper and

magazine publisher are required to put baybayin translation of their official name; (e) and

lastly, if they accept to direct appropriate government agency to disseminate knowledge

and information by distributing reading materials in all levels of public and private

educational institutions and all government and private agencies. Nevertheless, the

dependent variables will be the main factor that will complete the answer to the

awareness and acceptability of baybayin.

29
 CHAPTER IV
METHODOLOGY

This chapter will present the methods used and what is appropriate for the study

in response for the statement of the problem in chapter 1 which is pointing directly

towards the awareness and acceptability of senior high school teachers’ in the “house

bill 1022 or the “National Writing System Act,” that enables “Baybayin” to be the

Philippines’ national writing system, to generate a greater awareness on its plight and

develop wider appreciation for its importance and beauty”,(Morallo,2018).

Furthermore, this study will also present the various procedures and designs in

looking and searching for the sources of needed information on the teachers’ awareness

and acceptability regarding the bill about baybayin.

Nevertheless, this part of the study will specify the research design, population

and sample, data gathering instrument, and data collecting procedure.

Research Design

In this part of the study, the research design will describe the research

methodology used which the researchers will choose what social psychologists has much

to offer and that is the field survey research. “Survey research is a specific type of field

study that involves the collection of data from a sample of elements (e,g., old women)

drawn from a well-defined population(e.g.,all adult women living in the Philippines)

through the use of survey questionnaire,” (Babbie, 1990). The main instrument that will

30
be used in data gathering is through the use of survey questionnaire wherein, the series of

questions will be given to the respondents—senior high school teachers and the

researchers are bound to go to the specific area where the location of their study which

are the high school from Lingayen, Pangasinan. Through survey research social

psychologists want to understand how people are influenced, and are influenced by—also

social psychological phenomena are universal across different types of people, it makes

difference precisely with whom social psychological research is conducted – even data

collected from samples that are undecidedly unrepresentative of the general population

can be used to draw inferences about the population, (Weisberg, 1996). Using this

method, the result will differ from answers of the respondents and the samples will draw

what the inference would be. Through the opinions of the samples, and on all levels—can

change on a daily or even hourly basis.

Population and Sample

This section will show the geographical location, samples of the study and the

sampling techniques that will be used in the data gathering process.

The area chosen by the researchers is located at the different high schools in

Lingayen, Pangasinan, namely Pangasinan State University- Lingayen campus, Saint

Columban’s College, Pangasinan National High School, Pangasinan School of Arts and

Trades and Dulag National High School. The location was chosen as explained in the

research design.

31
 The samples of the study were twenty (20) senior high school teachers from the

chosen schools, they must be male or female; teaching Filipino, Social Sciences and non-

Filipino teachers—Math, English, Science. The purpose why the respondents were

teachers was, they are the one teaching and more involve when it comes to societal

matters. In addition, as soon as the bill passed into law, teachers must be more

knowledgeable because they will learn the baybayin first before they teach it to students

and the public,

The sampling technique used by the researchers was purposive quota sampling.

“Quota sampling is a non-probability sampling technique that refers to a selection with

control, ensuring that specified numbers (quotas) are obtained from each specified

population subgroup (e.g. households or persons classified by relevant characteristics),

but with no randomization of unit selection within the subgroups,” (Elder, 2009). This

method does need to be random but has the characteristics of the chosen character and

that is being a senior high school teacher.

Data Gathering Instrument

The researchers of the study will use survey questionnaire as a major data

gathering instrument. “A survey is a data gathering method that is utilized to collect,

analyze, and interpret the views of a group of people from a target population,” (Sincero,

32
2012). The survey questionnaire will be used to determine the awareness and

acceptability of senior high school teachers in the bill promoting baybayin as the national

writing system of the Philippines.

The survey questionnaire is composed set of questions contained in the statement

of the problem. The main purpose of the survey questionnaire is to ascertain the

perception of teachers if they are aware of the bill and also to gather information about

them if they accept baybayin as the national writing system of the Philippines.

The survey questionnaire is composed of three (3) sections. First, the teachers’

personal data regarding; a. Age, b. Highest educational attainment, c. Subject/s taught.

On the second part, to determine the level of awareness of the teacher’s awareness the

questions were focused on whether they have heard or seen baybayin or not. Lastly, the

fourth section will determine the teachers’ acceptability in baybayin and the questions

will include the parameters of the baybayin when it is imposed as a national writing

system of the Philippines, with that teachers were given choices to rate the bill from

highly acceptable and highly unacceptable.

Data Gathering Procedure

The first part of the process is survey questionnaire planning, the researchers will

think of certain questions that will answer their specific objectives and it will result for

researchers to formulate their survey questionnaire. After formulating the survey

questionnaire, the research instructor must validate the survey instrument. After which,

the researchers can now write their communication letter to ask permission to the

principal of the chosen schools.

33
 When the principal signed the permission letter, the researchers will now appoint

dates in conducting the data gathering. Since, the sampling method used is quota

sampling it is non-probability so that the researchers will select the respondents randomly

but they must have the characteristics of being a senior high school teacher. When the

researchers reached the area, they will first ask the teachers voluntary participation in

answering the survey questionnaire. Moreover after the approval of teacher, the

researchers will disclose the main purpose of the study and will ensure that their identity

will be confidential. As a consequence, the teachers will now proceed to answer the set of

questions providing the space and tables given. When finished, the researchers will send

their sincerest gratitude to the teachers for answering the survey questionnaire.

To begin with the next process, the result will be included in the chapter five (5)

of the study, but before that, the answers must be first analyzed and tabulated by the

researchers. On the one hand, after the data was analyzed, the results will be presented in

graphs to see the level of awareness and acceptability of teachers in the bill promoting

baybayin as the national writing system of the Philippines.

34
 CHAPTER V

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

This section of the study contains the tabulated results of the survey

questionnaire. Graphs were presented to show the interpretation of the answers of each

question. In addition, analyses were also included, to make sure that the readers were able

to understand what does each graph means.

The survey questionnaire is divided into three section which are a.) The section 1

of the survey questionnaire is composed of questions regarding teachers’ personal

information such as age, highest educational attainment, and subject taught; b.) Next to

that is section 2 containing questions regarding awareness—these are; first, if they heard

about baybayin—if not, they are not able to answer the following questions and therefore

proceed to next section. Second, if they heard about baybayin they are sought to answer

whether they can read, write, and teach baybayin or not. Moreover, the next question is

about where they have seen baybayin—money, social media, shirts, books, posters or

others. In addition, the question is connected on where they have seen it, --how often do

they see baybayin whether it is sometimes, often, or never. However, if the teachers heard

of baybayin, the next question is where they have heard of baybayin, -- radio, TV, social

media, or others. Nevertheless, the last section (3) is about the acceptability, regarding

the acceptability, the bill about baybayin is accepted for the following reasons (a) when

they allow it to be taught in schools; (b)food manufacturers to inscribe baybayin on

product names; (c) when LGUs are mandated to use baybayin scripts in their signage for

streets names and public facilities; (d) when newspaper and magazine publisher are

35
required to put baybayin translation of their official name; (e) and lastly, if they accept to

direct appropriate government agency to disseminate knowledge and information by

distributing reading materials in all levels of public and private educational institutions

and all government and private agencies. The teachers’ answers will define the result if

teachers would accept or reject baybayin as the national writing system of the

Philippines.

Nonetheless, the result of the gathered data will form the conclusion of the study

if the senior high school teachers from Lingayen are aware of baybayin and accepted in

terms of the said reasons. With this in mind, the following pages are the data presentation

and analysis.

36
Section1. Personal Information

Age:

Figure 1.0

Of the 80 respondents, forty-eight (48) senior high school teachers were from age

20-30, twenty-eight (28) are on the age of 31-45, and lastly four (4) of them are on the

age of 46-60.

37
Highest Educational Attainment:

Figure 1.1

On the one hand, forty-three (43) of the teachers had their bachelor’s degree,

twenty-nine (29) had their master’s degree, and lastly eight (8) of them got their doctor’s

degree.

38
Subject Taught:

Figure 1.2

Out of eighty (80) senior high school teachers, seventy (70) of them were non-

Filipino teachers and only ten (10) were Filipino/ Social Studies teachers.

39
Section2. Awareness

The section 2 is composed of questions regarding the awareness whether the

senior high school teachers were aware of the pre-Hispanic writing system of the

Philippines – baybayin.

In the past year, year 2018, the bill regarding baybayin was passed into the House

Committee on Education and Culture, it is indicated the House Bill 1022, or the proposed

“National Writing System Act,” that enables “Baybayin” to be the Philippines’ national

writing system (Morallo, 2018) (see introduction). Given that the bill is still in the

process, the researchers ascertained the teachers’ answers whether they heard of baybayin

or not.

40
Teachers’ respond if they heard of baybayin.

Figure 2.0

As shown in the figure above, it is clear that most of the teachers—without proper

specification of major—seventy (70) or eighty-seven percent 87% of them or said that

they heard of baybayin, seeing some of the respondent’s reaction, they were somewhat

attentive and excited hearing that baybayin—if passed into law—will be used as the

national writing system. Meanwhile, others, especially who are in the mid 40’s

mistakenly known baybayin as alibata (see alibata in introduction). Thereafter, ten (10) or

thirteen percent 13% of the senior high school teachers does not even know what

baybayin is, even if the researchers showed them what does baybayin looks like. Because

of this, the ten (10) teachers were not able to answer the following questions regarding

awareness and to cut it short they will proceed answering the acceptability.

41
Teachers’ who can read baybayin.

Figure 2.1

Twenty-two (22) or thirty-one percent 31% out of seventy (70) teachers said that

they know how to read baybayin. Ten (10) teachers who are Filipino and Social studies

are understood that they can read baybayin. Meanwhile, among the twelve (12) teachers

who are non-Filipino/Social Studies ten (10) can read baybayin for the reason that they

had a subject during their college where they topic baybayin and two (2) of them know

how to read baybayin because they saw it on Facebook. On the contrary, Forty-eight (48)

or sixty-nine percent 69% of the teachers do not know how to read baybayin.

42
Teachers’ who can write in baybayin.

Figure 2.2

In terms of writing in baybayin, eighteen (18) or twenty-six percent 26% of them

know how to write in baybayin, ten (10) teachers there are Filipino/ Social Studies, eight

(8) of them are non- Filipino/ Social Studies but they know how to write baybayin.

Lastly, fifty-two (52) or seventy-four percent 74% of the senior high school teachers do

not know write in baybayin.

43
Teachers’ who tried to teach baybayin.

Figure 2.3

The graph above clearly states that only ten (10) or twelve percent 12% teachers

who are Filipino/ Social Studies have tried to teach baybayin, while sixty (60) or eighty-

eight percent 88% are non- Filipino/ Social Studies teachers have not tried to teach

baybayin.

44
Seen baybayin in:

Figure 2.4

In this part of survey questionnaire, teachers were asked to select as many

depending on where they have seen it. Shown above, social media has been the most

influential mean where teachers see photos of baybayin. Fifty-two (52) or thirty-three

percent 33% of them answered social media, while forty-seven (47) or thirty percent 30%

also said that they saw it on books. Some answered twenty-three (23) or fifteen percent

15% on shirts, eighteen (18) or eleven percent 11% on money and sixteen (16) or ten

percent 10% on posters. For the two (2) or one percent 1% others one said they saw it on

school and one said they saw it on museum.

45
Time they see baybayin.

Figure 2.5

Average weighted mean=2.2571428571

To keep the readers away from confusion of how sometimes and often differ from

each other, sometimes is on certain circumstances or time but not always, while often is

frequently or many times but not always. Of seventy (70) teachers who have seen

baybayin, forty-six (46) or sixty-six percent 66% said that they see baybayin sometimes,

while twenty one (21) or thirty percent 30% often saw baybayin and to the three (3) or

four percent 4% who never saw baybayin said that they just hear it from radio and TV.

With this being said the average weighted mean for this question is 2.2571428571 or

sometimes.

46
Means of hearing baybayin.

Figure 2.6

In this part, teachers can select two or more options on where they heard of

baybayin. Nine (9) or eight percent 8% said they heard it on radio, fifty (50) or fourty-

five percent 45% on social media, twenty-two (22) or twenty percent 20% on TV and

thirty (30) or twenty-seven percent 27% on others in which they answered that they heard

it from their friends or colleagues.

47
Section3. Acceptability

In order for a bill to be passed in to law, the congress must seek for the teachers’

perception if they accept baybayin as a medium of writing in the Philippines. The figures

below are the result of the acceptability of teachers in baybayin. The questions on this

section will also determine their level of acceptability in baybayin. Teachers’ were given

choices to choose whether it is highly acceptable, acceptable, neutral or unacceptable,

and highly unacceptable.

Teaching baybayin to schools.

Figure 3.0

Average weighted mean=3.7875 Neutral

In this part of acceptability it is important to know if the teachers would support to push

baybayin to be taught in schools. Out of eighty (80) teachers, twenty-six (26) or thirty-

two percent 32% of them said that it is highly acceptable but it decreases -- from four --

48
its number in acceptability because twenty-two (22) or twenty-eignt percent 28% said it

was acceptable. Meanwhile, the number of undecided teachers are twenty-four (24) or

thirty percent 30%. On the other hand, the teachers who do not accept baybayin were five

(5) or six percent 6% and the teachers who said that it should not be taught to schools

were three (3) or four percent 4%. The first three choices—highly acceptable,

acceptable, and neutral—had a close gap, but in this question there are more teachers who

are in favor of teaching baybayin to schools and only few did not agree on teaching it to

schools. In this question, the average weighted mean result was 3.7875 or seen in the

scale the result was neutral

49
Putting baybayin translations on product names.

Figure 3.1

Average weighted mean=3.3125 Neutral

The result in this figure clearly shows the decrease of the number who highly supported

baybayin in terms of putting it into product names, The range of the gap in highly

acceptable between the figure 3.0 and 3.1 is far, from twenty-six (26) or ten percent 10%

down to eight (8) was a big difference but it does not mean that it is not acceptable

already because twenty-nine (29) or thirty-six 36% are still accepting when it comes to

putting baybayin translation in product names. Meanwhile, the range of neutral or those

who are unsure of the usage of baybayin is close to each other and there is an increase of

number who said that it is unacceptable, twelve (12) or five percent 5% of them answered

unacceptable and four said that it was highly unacceptable. To sum up the result in this

question, the calculated mean was 3.3125 or Neutral.

50
Putting baybayin scripts on street signage and and public facilities

Figure 3.2

Average weighted mean=3.4375 Neutral

In the previous question, the rate of highly acceptable goes up. Down to nine (9) it

increased one (1), ten (10) of them now said that it is highly acceptable. On the other

hand, there is still a high rate of acceptability ranging thirty-two (32), it is not bad

because teachers does still accept baybayin in condition of putting it into public facilities.

While for the teachers who said neutral, the range is still close, twenty-four(24) of them

are unsure if it is okay to put baybayin on street signage & public facilities. Moreover, the

rate of the acceptable is eleven (11) and for highly unacceptable is three(3), althought the

rate of the teachers who do not agree were low, the researchers asked them why not and

there are two filipino teachers who are against the bill for the following reasons. First,

they said that the country's status is going up to the technology era but with that baybayin

51
it is like going back to the old age and for them it is better to just preserve the baybayin

that to revitalize it, next to that was you are going to put baybayin translation on street

signage, people will not waste their time in reading the baybayin translation. Lastly, this

will be another problem for students to learn. Nevertheless the calculated mean was

3.4375 or still falls down to neautral

Requiring newspaper and magazine publishers to put baybayin translations of their

official name.

Figure 3.3

Average weighted mean= 3.3625 Neutral

The results on highly acceptable has only nine (9) or eleven percent 11% votes but still,

there are a lot of teachers who support and accept baybayin, twenty-eight (28) or thirty-

five percent 35% of them said it is acceptable to put baybayin on newspaper and

magazines of their official name. While for the neutral answers, there is consistency on

the rate twenty eight (28) or thirty-five percent 35% said they cannot decide. On the

contrary, thirteen (13) or three percent 3% said that it was unacceptable and two of them

52
said it was highly unacceptable. Regarding this question, the calculated mean was 3.3625

or still neutral

Distributing reading materials to the public

Figure 3.4

Average weighted mean=3.625 Neutral

On this part of the question, it is proposed that LGUS must give reading materials to

public, all educational institutions, and all public and private agencies .The rate on highly

acceptable increases. From previous question these is only nine but in this question there

are twenty one (21) or twenty-six percent 26% who highly support giving reading

materials to people and for acceptable there are also twenty one (21) or twenty-six

percent 26% who support it. On the other hand, neutral answers are consistent ranging

twenty eight (28) or thirty-five percent 35%, again like the previous question. Lastly,

53
these are lesser votes for unacceptable and highly unacceptable. Seven (7) or nine

percent 9% said it is unacceptable and three (3) or four percent 4% said it is highly

unacceptable. The last question and among other questions got the similar average

weighted mean which falls under the scale of neutral and this last question completes the

neutrality of all questions regarding acceptability because of the average weighted mean

3.625

54
 CHAPTER VI
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusions

The conclusion will discuss the summary of the study. Each section will be given

conclusion or the main result of the question.

In section 1, most of the teachers are twenty (20) to thirty (30) years old, and

approximately half were from age thirty one (31) to forty five (45), and only four were

aged forty six (46) to sixty (60). On the other hand, forty three got their bachelor’s

degree, twenty nine (29) got their master’s degree and lastly eight (8) got their doctor’s

degree. Moreover, when specification of major is differed from Filipino and Non-Filipino

subject, seventy (70) were Non-Filipino and ten (10) were Filipino teachers. The purpose

of the differentiation is to see if non-filipino are aware of baybayin. With this in mind,

section 2 will be discussed.

Awareness is the main purpose of the section 2. The result here, based on the

senior high school teachers answer seventy (70) out of eighty (80) or eighty-seven

percent 87% said that they heard of baybayin. Meanwhile, in measuring their skill on

baybayin all of the Filipino/Social studies teachers known how to read, write, teach

baybayin but there were few who can read and write but not teach it. In addition, to dig

deeper if they are really aware of baybayin the researchers asked the teachers were did

they see baybayin and select any of the given choices as many as they know. The highest

answer of the teachers is social media which is fifty two (52) or seventy-four percent

74% and it simply means that social media is influential even if in the promotion of the

55
filipno culture-baybayin. They also often see baybayin on books, shirts, and posters. And

two said that they saw it in school & museum. It does not end there because the

researchers also asked them on how often do they see baybayin. Based on the result, the

teachers are aware because they sometimes see it and it means that they notice it so they

are aware, of the four (4) who never see baybayin, their main reason was they only heard

it on radio. On the contrary, if they were asked where they see it, the researchers where

did they heard baybayin. According to their answers, fifty (50) of them mostly heard it

through the means of social media, aside from hearing it on radio and TV, teachers also

said that they heard it from their colleagues, friends and on seminar. With this in mind the

teachers in general are aware of baybayin.

To conclude the section 3 or the acceptability of teachers, the researchers give

each conclusion for each answer. In the first question, regarding teaching baybayin to

schools, the result was neutral, gaining 3.7875 of average weighted mean-- it is close to

reach acceptable, where in fact although the rate of highly acceptable and acceptable

were high, the result was up to reach only acceptable. Next to that, when putting

baybayin translation on product names, the result was neutral, the average weighted mean

was 3.125, in this case the rate of neutrality was low and it almost goes down to

unacceptable. Meanwhile, the rate of acceptability was not high but not low. In the next

question, the result for putting baybayin scripts on street signage and public facilities was

still neutral. The average weighted mean was 3.4375, this problem has the low rate of

highly acceptable but does still have high rate for acceptable. Moreover, the result for

requiring newspaper and magazine publishers to put baybayin translations of their official

name was 3.3625 or neutral, also this question has the highest rate for neutral. On the

56
contrary, this problem has the lowest rate of highly acceptable but has the same rate for

neutral and acceptable. Lastly, the result on the problem regarding distributing reading

materials to public was neutral, gaining 3.625 average weighted mean, this question also

has the highest rate of neutrality like in the past problem.

57
Recommendations

1. For further study regarding the topic baybayin, future researchers, as

requested by senior high school teachers, must seek for the perception of

kindergarten teachers because they were the ones who will teach baybayin on

the children.

2. The researchers found out that teachers were neutral of accepting baybayin,

for future studies, the researchers would like to suggest that if necessary use

the basis of this study to compare if the teachers will become more accepting

when it comes to promoting baybayin as the national writing system of the

Philippines as the time passes by.

3. Not only for the teachers, but future studies must also seek for the public’s

perception on awareness and acceptability of baybayin to be the national

writing system of the Philippines.

4. Regarding deeper analysis, the researchers would suggest that future studies

must try qualitative to know the real reasons behind their answers.

58
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62